international space station

Experimenting with fireballs in space

Here on planet Earth we're used to flames -- whether from a candle or campfire -- reaching upward to the sky with slender limbs hungry for oxygen and driven by rising hot air. But in space, sans our planet's strong gravitational pull, flames are more likely to take the shape of eerie fireballs.

Within the flame of a regular candle wick, there's quite a bit going on. As the video below released this week by NASA explains, molecules from the wick are being cracked apart and vaporized by the flame, then combined with oxygen to produce light, heat, carbon dioxide, and water, as well as soot.

In recent years we've become quite familiar with how flames can extend and expand quickly in their greedy quest for more fuel and oxygen; witness countless western wildfires of the past decade. But researchers aboard the International Space Station have observed that flames in microgravity behave much differently, staying in a small spherical shape and letting oxygen molecules come to them.… Read more

Crave Ep. 121: Wake up to a dancing iPhone

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This week on Crave, we take a look at Tim-e, an iPhone dock that wakes you up in the most annoying ways possible. We salute Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield on making space travel cool again, and demonstrate Petswitch, which lets you put your face on your cat's visage. … Read more

Chris Hadfield sings Bowie's 'Space Oddity' in ISS farewell

How do you top months of amazing photos, demos, and tunes done aboard the International Space Station? If you're Chris Hadfield, you cover David Bowie's "Space Oddity" in a showstopping finale.

On the eve of his return to Earth, the Canadian astronaut released a beautifully done video of himself singing the 1969 classic.

Mixed with the help of staff at the Canadian Space Agency, musician Emm Gryner, and others, the cover features a somber piano intro and modified lyrics that reference the Soyuz capsule that will return Hadfield to Kazakhstan. … Read more

Spur-of-the-moment spacewalk a first for NASA, space station

Saturday saw a first for NASA and the International Space Station, as two astronauts conducted an impromptu spacewalk to try to locate the source of a problem on the craft's exterior.

The space agency hadn't yet ordered such a spur-of-the-moment maneuver in regard to the ISS, according to the Associated Press, but when crewmembers on the craft spotted ammonia flakes floating through space beyond a window Thursday, the spacewalk was hastily planned.

After Mission Control and the ISS crewmembers prepped intensely -- for less than 48 hours -- astronauts Thomas Marshburn and Christopher Cassidy exited a hatch and … Read more

International Space Station springs system coolant leak

The International Space Station is leaking ammonia coolant used to prevent the station's power systems from overheating, but it doesn't pose a danger to the crew, NASA announced Thursday.

Crew aboard the space station alerted Mission Control to the appearance of small white flakes floating away from the station's P6 truss solar array this morning, NASA said in a statement. The ammonia loop affected is the same loop at which spacewalking astronauts attempted to troubleshoot a leak last November, NASA reported.

"There's a very steady stream of flakes or bits coming out as the truss … Read more

Wringing out a space station washcloth makes water clingy

Thanks to astronaut Chris Hadfield and a series of videos from the Canadian Space Agency, we've had incredible access to all aspects of life on the International Space Station. Activities that are so mundane here on Earth (like clipping nails and heating up some spinach) become things of wonder in zero gravity. That's why we're all going ga-ga over Hadfield wringing out a washcloth.

If I told you nearly 600,000 people would tune into YouTube to watch a piece of cloth get wrung out, you would probably laugh and tell me to take the day off. Fortunately, we're not all suffering from a mass delusion. Hadfield soaking up a washcloth with water and then wringing it out really is that cool.… Read more

Astronauts don't cry: Chris Hadfield shows tears in space

There's no crying in baseball, and there's no crying in space.

While zero gravity doesn't have an impact on tears forming, it has an effect on if they fall -- and they don't. The water that builds up in your eyes from crying will stay there until the bubble gets so big it moves to another spot on your face, or it's removed. It's not very pretty or graceful.

Watch how Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield -- commander of the International Space Station and maker of all sorts of entertaining space videos -- demonstrates what … Read more

Astronaut Chris Hadfield shows off his spacesuit waltz

Flying aboard the International Space Station isn't just fun and games; members of the crew have to examine their equipment to keep everything in ready-to-use condition. One of the most important pieces of equipment is the spacesuit worn by astronauts when they leave the ISS to go out into the universe.

Spacesuits are made to keep a human body alive in the harsh, anti-gravity environment of space, but they are also used inside a ship should there be a change of pressure.

They are often constructed to help keep the wearer comfortable, keeping in mind mobility and the need to collect solid and liquid waste, "Spacesuits are just really one person spaceships," ISS Commander Chris Hadfield explains in his video. … Read more

Watch astronaut Chris Hadfield's zero-gravity workout

If you think your workout is reaching a plateau, don't complain to the men and women in space. They have to constantly work out to stave off the loss of muscle tissue.

People living in zero gravity can lose up to 5 percent muscle mass a week. Yikes! That's why working out isn't just something astronauts do because they had a double cheeseburger with onion rings for lunch. Curious about what a space workout looks like? … Read more

Space spinach: Getting your greens on the ISS

Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield has been giving us Earthlings behind-the-scenes peeks into life on the space station. He already showed us how he makes a peanut butter sandwich and how he clips his fingernails without inhaling them.

Now, he turns his attention to the sometimes controversial subject of spinach. Love it or hate it, it's packed with healthy vitamins and minerals. Hadfield posted a video demonstrating how to eat spinach in space.

When you're on the ISS, you can't just pop down to the local space grocery and pick up a nice bag of fresh baby spinach. It first has to be processed into a form that can handle traveling 220 miles from Earth to the International Space Station and not end up flying all over the place in zero gravity once it gets there.… Read more